Development Of A Non-Formal Education Curriculum In Astronomy For Middle School Students.
TalkHow to develop an astronomy curriculum
4th Shaw-IAU Workshop
Tuesday Nov. 15, 2022
UTC: 12:35 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. America/New_York: 7:35 a.m.- 7:45 a.m.
Wednesday Nov. 16, 2022
UTC: 10:35 p.m. - 10:45 p.m. America/New_York: 5:35 p.m.- 5:45 p.m.
Avik Dasgupta (Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre)
School Science Forum is a non-formal education course conducted at Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre for middle school children (Std 5 – Std 9) of Ahmedabad, India. As a part of this, Astronomy Lab has developed a curriculum so that we can gradually introduce the students to the basic concepts of astronomy. The sessions are based on short lectures supported with hands-on learning, model making, observations and discussions. The concepts included were moon phases, constellations, circumpolar constellations, day time astronomy & sundial and understanding & making a telescope for 5th to 9th Std respectively. In this talk we would like to discuss the development of these sessions and the various learnings from the same.
About Avik Dasgupta
"Avik Dasgupta, In-charge of Astronomy Lab, Program Officer – Scientist, is currently developing astronomy activities, programs and publications at VASCSC, India. This lab was initiated by him in 2020. He is associated with science communication and education for the past eight years. He takes interests in developing low-cost activities, materials and sessions to reach the underpriviledged students.
He implemented 75 Space Clubs at Gujarat and conducted workshops for scientists to implement 125 ISRO Space Clubs at school level across India. He has conducted lectures and hands-on workshops for students, teachers and educators at various school, state, national and international platforms on astronomy, model rocketry and space science."
Watch a recording of this talk (external link)
